walkingwithgod

Has anyone read, Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp? My wife thinks that I should.

beaglenut

I have read it many times. A very real depiction of alcoholism.

Lost3000

YES! Love it. I'm getting ready to read it again now that I've quit drinking. A definite must read.

fallingtogether

yes i have read it and thank you for mentioning it, i think i will read it again!

Healthyfood

I haven't read this book yet. Year of publishing??

NewHouse2012

Yes, read it a couple weeks ago. She provides an excellent portrayal of her own experiences with alcoholism and writes nicely too. Good read. Hits home.

NoFireWater

It's a really good book! It was the first thing I read that prompted me to seriously look at my drinking habits and issues. It's well written, really depicts the whole picture of an affair with drinking.

Anna

I read it long ago and read it again every now and then. It's an amazing book. Caroline Knapp is a high-functioning, young alcoholic woman and her memoir of her addiction and recovery is raw and powerful. When I read her book, I felt for the first time, that yes, I could do this.

RevivingOphelia

Great memoir.

Sadly, Ms. Knapp passed away from cancer at the far too young age of 42 in 2002.

Her obit in the NYT: Caroline Knapp, 42, Writer Who Chronicled Struggles, Dies - Obituary - NYTimes.com

Zebra1275

Yes. It's one of the more popular books mentioned on this site. If you search a little you will find many others. I went through a phase when I first got sober and read a bunch of stuff.

kittycat3

A stunning piece of writing, really!!!

jennikate

Great book- I had no idea she died so young from lung cancer. I'm going to go back and read it again. Different perspective, this time.

ReadyAndAble

lol, is every reply here from a woman?

Somebody needs to write "Drinking: A War Story", even things out a bit...

Etta

I've read it. It's a great memoir, especially for women who are also introverts. Maybe a good book for men is Pete Hamill's memoir, A Drinking Life.

blueshades

Thanks for the recommendation. Healthyfood, here is a catalog entry:

Drinking : a love story (Book, 1996) [WorldCat.org]

Lost3000

When I search for memoirs on drinking, I find an abundance of them written by men. I have only seen a few written by women.

It seems like for a long time only men could be the stereotypical drunk. The working women and housewives were drunks too - but it was a secret society. And no one knew what to do about that. It seems that only lately (last 10 years) has this issue been exposed. Case in point: Diary of an Alcoholic Housewife.

doggonecarl

I have nothing against drinking memoirs. I've read my share...all while I was drinking. They didn't help my recovery one whit.

Since you are taking reading recommendations, walkingwithgod, look up AA's Big Book, the SMART Recovery® Handbook, and Allen Carr's The Easy Way to Stop Drinking.

gincognito

I used to enjoy her column in the pheonix. That was a great book though at the time it just made me love drinking even more.

Lost3000

gincognito: Really? I read it when drinking, but it stayed with me. Whispered in my ear, things like, you know you need to quit, you are an alkie, like her...

gincognito

Well you hear what you want you know. I'm sure I heard those things but I wasn't interested in listening!